the Anniversary

 The day started out so fine. Bright sun, mild humidity, everything green and wild. I just goggled at it for a few minutes before it dawned on me that it was June 4. And I had to do the math, 47 years ago Jim and I got married.  If you haven't ever been to As Long as Love Allows, here's an anniversary story 

It's hard to celebrate alone, but I rummaged this out of a file and am sending it out to Jimmy. Of all the things people use the internet for, there is no better use than this. A new song for an old love and a mesmerizing video with lyrics.

And him

 

untitled watercolor on paper, 24"x36"  

We talked briefly about the importance of cleaning your brush before switching colors.  Changing the water often. Using a paper towel to take back too much moisture.  The transparent aspect of watercolors. 

I have no formal training in this medium so I don't have much to offer. He asked Alexa to play some jazz and I left him to it. He worked two hours in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. 

Late in the day, he rushed a passage and got a little discouraged but I showed him a few recovery tricks and he was mighty pleased with the outcome. 

It's rare for kids to not be intimidated by a blank page. He talked about how he liked the way he felt while he was painting. "Smooth and quiet."

Last week, me

 

The peace and quiet is so thorough, it's disarming. I spend a half hour just soaking it up. Listening to the birdsong. 

Watching them flit around when the hawk casts his shadow across the lawn. 

That's a dead-end drive shared with a few neighbors out of sight through the trees. An organic farmstead across the way. Beyond that, a field with cows and donkeys. 

After coffee and breakfast, Charlie and I part ways for a little personal space. He, with the Regular Guys or Adventure Time, and me with Rachel Maddow and Heather Cox Richardson.  

Not touching on the sex scandal aspect, remaining impartial through the trial, and explaining the legal system to him has been challenging. He's a born prosecutor. 

I'm going to need a bigger lunchbox. 

 I've sequestered these in a gallon baggie for the Worm 2 project. 

I'm holding off starting because I'm going to need some darker colors. Fresh thread and new dyes are on the way.

And best, stories are starting to rustle around looking for attention. 

 

Sports

 

"An animal or plant showing abnormal or striking variation from the parent type, especially in form or colour, as a result of spontaneous mutation."

I first read this usage of the word "sport" many years ago in a post apocalyptic novel called "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter Miller. 

Seems like I've hatched out a batch of sports in this impromptu dyefest.

There is no telling what these are going to look like once I start stitching. It's a little spooky.

I'm letting them air dry for a while. They felt cool this morning when I unwrapped them- always a sign of a small bit of damp. Besides I'm going to take some time pondering what colors are going to go where. If I'm even going to outline the shapes this time. I don't think so. Will I need to actually buy a skein or two of black?

And speaking of sports. I'm not entirely unhappy with the results. It would have been good to look in the mirror while I was slapping the stuff around. I left the house while it was still wet and did not know I had a huge purple hickey on my neck. Next time there will be a layer of chrome yellow.

Summer

 

Every time I unrolled the bundle hiding these skeins, I sighed and hid them away again. Not today.

What else to do with an overheated day and an excess of ennui? Get over yourself and get busy. 

Overdying calls for restraint. Good thing I had a little left and watered down some of these colors before plunging in.

The skeins have been through a lot of handling and these won't turn out with the usual color shifts. That's okay. Most of them are for me. I'm warming up to do another Worm Work. 

Our mail delivery person is driving under the influence of a major gardenia overdose. I watch the dog walkers pause and close their eyes while the dogs deliver what the plant seems to thrive on. (I did give the whole garden a bag of Black Cow)

Around the corner, a neighbor has a complete hedge of gardenia. I used to roll down the window and drive creepy slow. Now all I have to do is take my time collecting the mail. 

The place and work that waits patiently. No judgment. Just be sure to put something under the laptop so its fan can keep it cool. I keep getting the Windows 10 is dying warning and this older Acer cannot be upgraded. I dread any of that nonsense anymore. 

I used to be such a geek comparing specs and prices. Trying to decide if a hardware upgrade was worth the software (and wallet) headache. No more. This little Chromebook I'm using in my lap does almost everything that matters. 

Colin handled the annual pool rescue heroically this year replacing a factory-issued support strut and a last-second hose replacement like it was no big thing. 

Of course, today, Memorial Day, Summer's shown her other side. I'll be traveling later in the day than usual. 

And these will hang out in the studio to take all the time they need to dry indoors instead of under the sun.